Abstract

MORON-DUARTE, Lina S  and  CASTILLO-PABON, José O. Epidemiological surveillance of measles and Germán measles (rubella) within the context of the elimination plan. Rev. salud pública [online]. 2012, vol.14, n.1, pp.1-14. ISSN 0124-0064.

Objective Describing the behavior of epidemiologic surveillance regarding measles and German measles (rubella) to provide evidence about the interruption of the endemic circulation of tríese viruses in Colombia. Methods This was a retrospective descriptive study of epidemiological surveillance for measles and German measles in Colombia from 1995 to 2009 by reviewing available notification information from the measles elimination surveillance system (MESS), the Colombian Public Health Surveillance System (SIVIGILA) and the Colombian Statistics Department (DANE) for population projections. Surveillance quality was evaluated by using the indicators proposed for integrated measles and German measles surveillance. Results 28,732 suspicious cases were notified during the study period (66.15 % concerned measles and 33.8 % German measles). The greatest number of notified cases occurred in 2002 (22.4 %); this was detected in the 6-11 month and 2-4 year-old groups. Confirmed measles cases amounted to 495 (1995-2002) and German measles to 946 (for the whole period). The cumulative average for indicators was as follows: timely research had a pattern below 80.5 %, weekly notification was above 80 %, suitable sampling was 93.7 % on average and sample reception was 65.2 % for 1995-2006 and 83.3 % for 2007-2009. Conclusions According to the information compiled regarding epidemiological surveillance, Colombia complied with 4 of the 7 proposed indicators for quality evaluation; these showed active surveillance having suitable indicator performance regarding laboratory and notification rate. They demonstrated interrupted endemic circulation of measles and German measles in Colombia.

Keywords : Epidemiology surveillance; rubella; measles; evaluation.

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